Zazzle Shop

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

SpaceX teased the world last week with some rocket pr0n that hinted that the company was finally ready to reveal its Falcon Heavy mega rocket. Well, that’s what the company did minutes ago in a Washington DC press conference. World, meet the Falcon Heavy. She might take us back to the Moon.

The Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful and capable launch platform. At 52,000 kg the payload capability is nearly double that of the current heavy lifter, the Space Shuttle and its 24,400 kg carrying capacity. This super strength is thanks to a three banks of nine engines that combine to generate 17 MN (3,800,000 lb) of thrust at liftoff. SpaceX claims that the three core design makes the Falcon Heavy as powerful as a three stage rocket. (Like the Saturn V) Cross-feeding propellant from the side boosters leaves the center core the majority of the fuel even after the two boosters separate. This function is optional and can be disabled for lower-mass launches.

While impressive, it’s still half as powerful as the 44-year old Saturn V’s 7,648,000 lb record. Still, SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk stated that it’s powerful enough to send man back to the Moon and it very well do just that since the the Falcon Heavy complies with NASA’s human rating standards. The Falcon Heavy is expected to blast off for the first time in 2012. Space just got exciting again. [SpaceX]

The mobile phone has changed the lives of many people over the past 15 years, when it began to be used globally. But, few know that the first prototype was built 38 years ago in New York.
More specifically, the first phone call ​​by a person walking on the streets was made ​​in 1973, in the year when the U.S. Army announced its withdrawal from Vietnam.

On April 3, Martin Cooper, who was then 44 years, used the first prototype mobile phone on the streets of New York. As expected, the reaction of those who saw him with the device in hand was one of total bewilderment, confusion and “gape “. Cooper is now 82 and he told the Daily Mail publication about how Americans reacted:

“As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call.I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter – probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life.”

But it had to pass a while until Mr. Cooper’s vision could have been applied at a global scale. Those where the years when only the rich ones could have phones inside their luxurious cars.
The first mobile phone that Martin Cooper created was weighing approximately 2.5 lbs., something that would now be regarded as a “brick”. Ten years have passed until Motorola managed to commercialize and distribute Dyna-TAC.

DynaTAC 8000X had the following characteristics:

weighed around 1lb

the lifespan of the battery in standby was up to 8 hours and 30 minutes of talking time

If you grew up in a certain era, it’s likely that the first computer you ever had was a Commodore 64.Sure, you probably played games like Impossible Mission and Boulder Dash, but the real magic was the built-in BASIC language. You might have typed in a program like this:
10 PRINT "WALYOU RULES!"
20 GOTO 10

This would print “WALYOU RULES!” over and over again until you hit the break key.
Commodore USA has acquired the rights to the original machines, including the Commodore 64.

This new version features the familiar brown-and-beige design of the original, but with 21st Century features. The machine is powered by a dual core Intel Atom processor. The keyboard features Cherry brand key switches, which give it a feel similar to those old IBM keyboards that real geeks swear by. In place of the traditional “Windows” key, there’s the famous Commodore “chicken head” logo. The new C64 doesn’t run Windows but a custom Linux distro, Commodore OS, instead. (It is possible, however, to dual-boot with Windows.) You can either boot into Commodore OS or directly into a classic Commodore 64 emulator to play your old favorites.

There will also be a media center application that will allow you to download classic C64 games. Commodore also plans to ship each system with a variety of open source software, including 3D games. They also promise to install a Microsoft Office-compatible suite. (This will likely be OpenOffice.org or its offshoot, LibreOffice.)
The machine comes with 2 gigs of RAM, expandable to 4 gigs.
Instead of that bulky old 1541 5.25″ disk drive, there’s a DVD/RW drive built into the side of the machine, with Blu-ray as an optional extra. There are the standard ports, including USB and Ethernet, card reader slots, and even an HDMI port so you can hook it up to your HDTV. Add the Blu-ray and you’ve got yourself a nice living room computer.

I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this machine, both as a fan of Commodore and a fan of Linux and open source in general.

The authors believe it can be used to put "a megaphone in the system" to improve the treatment of injuries such as burns and leg ulcers.

Another UK expert said the research had potential.

Bone marrow was thought to play a role in repairing damaged skin, but the exact process was unknown.
Scientists at Osaka University and King's College London gave mice bone marrow cells that glow green - which can be tracked while moving round the body.

They then wounded the mice and some were given skin grafts.

Megaphone medicine
In mice without grafts, very few stem cells travelled to the wound. Those with grafts had many stem cells travelling to the wound.

Professor John McGrath, from King's College London, says grafted skin tissue has no blood vessels and therefore no oxygen. He says this environment leads to the release of HMGB1 - or what he called a 'Save Our Skin signal' - which results in stem cells moving to the wound.

He said: "It could have a very big impact on regenerative medicine for treating people with rare genetic illnesses and more common problems such as burns and ulcers.

"It could potentially revolutionise the management of wound healing."

He envisaged treatments in which a drug similar to HMGB1 would be injected near to a wound.
He said: "It would be like putting a megaphone in the system" bringing stem cells to the injury.

Researchers in Osaka are developing a drug to mimic HMGB1. They hope to begin animal testing by the end of the year and human clinical trials shortly afterwards.

Phil Stephens, professor of Cell Biology at Cardiff University, said: "I think it has potentially big clinical implications, but the key is potential if you can control it. You can't just chuck it on, you need the right amounts at the right time."

Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor) is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the second largest Art Deco statue in the world. It is 39.6 metres (130 ft) tall, including its 9.5 metres (31 ft) pedestal, and 30 metres (98 ft) wide. It weighs 635 tonnes (625 long,700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. A symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931.

Corcovado from the airplane
As we were coming in to land at Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro, we flew by Corcovado which is dominated by the famous statue of Christ overlooking the city. I had a good view of it from my window although the sun angle was not at its best to take a photograph. I took it anyway, and with some of the fancy software available today I was able to make some adjustments and turn it into a semi-acceptable shot. It presents the popular landmark from an unusual perspective not often seen except in postcards. Photo Credit: Yvon from Ottawa

Cristo Redentor statue on top of Corcovado, a mountain towering over Rio de Janeiro.
In the background the Ipanema and Leblon beaches separate the lagoon from the Atlantic Ocean. Photo Credit: wikicommons/Klaus with K

Multitasking is something we all think can be easily done when sitting at a computer with multiple applications open flicking our attention between them. But in reality, humans just aren’t that good at it. In fact, you sacrifice focus in order to carry out multiple tasks in a diminished capacity speaking from my own experience. You can still do multiple tasks, but don’t expect to do them all well.

Have you ever really sat down and focused on just one thing? If you have the patience to do this, something that seems to be disappearing fast in our instant-gratification world, you will probably find you perform that single task much better. Be that learning, playing, reading, writing etc.

To test how good or bad you really are at multitasking, Kongregate developer IcyLime has created a game called Multitask. It involves you looking after an increasing number of objects on screen as time goes by. You start with balancing a ball, then have to avoid some arrows, then interact with some boxes. At every stage the multitasking gets that little bit harder.

I am admittedly terrible with a top score of just 56. But I’d liked to know just how bad I am compared to others so post your scores below so we can compare.

If you play and enjoy Multitask, then IcyLime has done a follow-up game called Multitask 2 with slightly different tasks to manage. It’s not easier or harder, just different.

Here’s a video giving you some idea of what you end up coping with when playing:

David Bowie will always be hip. Unlike some classic rock stars who have sadly allowed age to catch up with them, even if he’s not releasing any music worthy of his golden years (we couldn’t help ourselves), Bowie at least knows how to recognize that “scary” new things–bands, technology, Lady Gaga–aren’t a threat to him.

In fact, he’s often embraced the power of of new tech and taken advantage of what it can offer to recording artists. Case in point: on June 6, an App will be released by EMI for his song “Golden Years,” which will allow fans to manipulate the various tracks on the song and create their own remixes.

Bowie’s done this before, with the tune “Space Oddity,” but this time users will be able to export their remix to an MP3 file and share it with family and friends. Budding artists ought to be pleased; Bowie’s music is eternally cool, and remixing is currently cool. Can’t go wrong with that combo these days.

To spark users’ creativity, EMI will also be releasing a new EP featuring the original single, as well as four remixes from DJ’s Jeremy Sole, Anthony Valadez, Eric J. Lawrence and Chris Douridas.

With technology making the creation of music more and more democratized, we’re thrilled to know that there are mainstream artists willing to participate in the revolution. Sure, they do it for the sales it generates, but if it helps fans discover their own untapped potential, we’re all for it.

Do you think that technology has been good for music these days, or has it made it too easy for less-than-talented artists to record and release music? In the past, bands had to prove their worth; now that’s not the case. Is that good or bad?

Ian M. Sherwin Giclée

.
All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings.His work is amazing.